To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many civil servants in his Department were seconded to work for (a) trades unions and (b) the Trades Union Congress in each year since 2003. (229093)

Data on how many civil servants were seconded to work for trade unions and the Trades Union Congress in each year since 2003 are not held centrally. Secondments are arranged locally by individuals and line managers and to gather this information would involve line managers trawling their records at disproportionate cost.